(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. is facing production delays to its top-of-the-line iPhone X due to problems with the 3-D sensor manufacturing process, according to a series of news reports.
Makers of the components, used in facial recognition, are struggling to reach adequate production levels, Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported Tuesday, citing unidentified people with knowledge of the process. The delay relates to the assembly of equipment used to project the 30,000 infrared dots onto a user’s face to map its characteristics, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, also citing unidentified people.
Assembly of the dot projector is carried out by LG Innotek Co. and Sharp Corp., the Journal reported, adding that one person said the process is now running smoothly. The delays may have been a contributing factor in a decision by Apple to ask suppliers to withhold some shipments for iPhone X devices, as reported by Digitimes on Monday. The suppliers were requested to send just 40 percent of the parts initially ordered, the Taipei-based publication wrote, citing unidentified Taiwan-based suppliers.
Apple had already faced delays due to the new display technology, which is made of organic light-emitting diodes. OLED panels are made by just a handful of factories largely owned by Samsung Display Co. Ltd., making it harder to supply the technology in adequate quantities, people familiar with the issues told Bloomberg in April.
Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller declined to comment.
The 3-D scanner is the iPhone X’s flagship innovation, allowing the handset to be unlocked just by glancing at it rather than requiring a fingerprint or unlock code. Along with a wider, sharper screen, it’s a key differentiator from the next model down, the iPhone 8, which was announced concurrently earlier this month.
Apple has staggered the delivery of the iPhone X, which will become available Nov. 3, six weeks after the lower-specification iPhone 8 went on sale. While Apple has said that it took the delayed release into account when forecasting its revenue for the three months through September, many analysts have assumed that demand for the top-of-the-range handset would carry over into the December quarter.
While any pent-up demand for the iPhone X would be a “positive trend for Apple, any serious production delays could hurt Apple’s fiscal first quarter and even second quarter sales growth,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Boyoung Kim wrote in a note Wednesday.
Analysts on average forecast Apple’s revenue to increase 11 percent in the first fiscal quarter to $86.9 billion.
Apple’s shares were up less than 1 percent to $154.03 at 1:13 p.m. Wednesday. They have risen 33 percent this year, fueled in large part by expectations for the 10th anniversary iPhone.
